One of the many Treetops Safaris with the  St. Mark’s Church Youth in Chingola, Zambia

TREETOPS
Kafue National Park

Kafue National Park covers is two and a half times larger than the size of the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. The road from Chingola to the road going north into the Park was fairly good. It was tarmac most of the way. We had four to five hours driving on sand. Once you get to the camp at Treetops game viewing can be stunning. It is close to the Busanga Plains where we saw a herd of Cape buffaloes the very first day. The road the last three or four hours  had been graded and driving  was less bumpy but there still were many huge potholes to drive around if there were not too many rocks  The children got out and filled up some of the potholes with stones and tree limbs. Total journey time is about eleven hours. We broke down three times.  The first time we were fortunate as there was an Acacia tree which provided us with some shade. The main vegetation of the Kafue area is called "Miombo".  It has more trees than you can count.

The Park is North and South by the Kafue River which comes out from the Zambezi River. The Kafue is a long old river that changes its moods from slow to swift channels between trees in the little islands and the rapids flow furiously from the Itezhi-Tezhi dam below which flows out in to the Kafue Flats. Once we saw nesting sites for Bee eaters in the sandy banks. Also some of the students saw two otters, a ugly water monitor that is scary, two hippos and several crocodiles that looked sleepy but of course they are not.  One of the boys threw a rock that was not very big but his eyes opened up probably due to the splash.  Farther down the water became tranquil water and was a haven for wildlife watchers. Two of the boys with their dad threw out their lines and caught some bream, and pike.  One of the fellas thought he had a bream but he lost it.  They caught enough for our dinner and enough to share with the local men that worked at the camp.

  

The Northern Section of the park is a slightly rolling, scenic plateau and has two rivers. Treetops camp is on the banks of the Lufupa River. The area is covered by Miombo and Mopani woodlands with occasional open grassy plains. There are many hardwoods, sausage trees and to everyone’s delight the enormous baobab tree was at the center of our camp. The school room at Treetops has a huge Baobab tree beside it that they told us it was hundreds of years old.  We saw many Baobab trees on this trip.  One of the cooks at the camp who only spoke Bemba, and with the help of the Zambian children that were with us that spoke Bemba fluently showed me how to make a delicious drink from the fruit of the baobab tree.  It tasted like lemonade, and all the children loved it.

We identified martial and fish eagles, crowned and wattled cranes, saddle-billed stocks and a wealth of hornbills, kingfishers and babblers with the help of  camp guide. Kafue also has a huge variety of wildlife. The antelopes that we saw were puku, impala, kudu, bushbuck, hartebeest, defassa waterbuck, sable, roan, lechwe, oribi and blue wildebeest. The predators that we saw on the Busanga Plains were lions, leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and packs of wild dogs. We also saw elephants, herds of buffalos, zebras, many hippos and crocodiles basking in the sun on the grass and sandy shores. 

The focus of the trip to Treetops was to educate the children on the wildlife, and the natural resources. I taught not only about the natural resources and the wildlife but began each day with prayer and reading the Psalms in the Bible.

A huge Baobab tree is the central attraction at "Treetops" Camp which is not far from the Busanga Flood Plains. The camp helped the children from the Copperbelt during the dry season for ten days to help educate them about the wildlife in the Park, and to learn more about the book of Psalms. The camp had boys and girl’s dormitory, teachers huts, dining room, open air classroom, toilet facilities with a shower, and a kitchen with two refrigerators. 

TEACHING IN ZAMBIA • JOAN HUST

  TCCA

Jim Hess was a Brethren missionary in Chingola.  He drove me every week to Ndola to teach at TCCA (Theological College of Central Africa).  He taught a course in mechanics, and I taught the book of Romans, Outlining, and the Psalms. One day we were early as there were no police checks on the road so he was going to the bakery to buy a treat for the students.  I decided not to go back in town as I wanted to hear the testimonies of the students in preparation to have them speak on my weekly television and radio program.  Just as Jim was driving onto the road we heard a gunshot. The bullet hit the back window and went through the passenger seat. He jumped out of the HI Ace and the officer in charge knocked the soldier to the ground.  The soldier was on drugs. I correspond with two of the students, and one of the students come to the states annually to preach the Gospel in honor of Jim Hess who led him to the Lord. 

HE takes care of HIS children.

NCHANGA CONSOLIDATED MINE SCHOOL (Grades 1-7)

This school was for the children of the Copper Mine employees in Chingola.  The headmaster was from Great Britain as were most of the teachers.  I was the only one from the USA.  There were three terms. Jan-March and April was a holiday.  May-July and August was a holiday.  September-November and December was a holiday.  It worked out well.  The clerical staff was Zambian ladies.  They were dedicated to their job and were most supportive of the teaching staff.  My classes were fourth and fifth grade students. The mine provided transportation to my Clubhouse weekly program on TV and radio in Kitwe, and Ndola, and I would have them on my program.  They would recite poems, Bible verses and sing in English and Bemba.

Would you believe that two of those students live near me in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and five of them live in the Seattle, WA area where my older son works for World Vision? It has been so much fun to make contact with them.  Not long ago I met up with another one of my students that was on the Clubhouse program weekly when I was in California. I had a call from NYC this past year and he was from Chingola and was on my weekly program.

SACRED HEART CONVENT SCHOOL

Sister Mary Crucifix was the Headmistress. She was from Long Island, New York. I taught fifth grade, and the afternoon sessions I taught music and crafts. There were two Zambia nuns on staff, and several ex-pats. There was a catholic church in Chingola. Mother Superior stationed in Lusaka would visit the school once a year. She was a lovely lady and had a great sense of humor especially the time I locked up most of the statues from the school garden.  The reason was that you had to being them in the building every day so no one would take them.  The teachers and staff would walk around all the statues and say prayers.  My plan was to put them all out when she visited the school. I was not expecting her the day she arrived unannounced.  All went well but Sister Mary Crucifix smiled when she told me to check the office so I would know the next time to expect her so I could have all the statues out.

When I returned to the States I called Sister Mary Crucifix and Pam Steyne’s mother and I had lunch with her at a small Italian restaurant in the neighborhood where she was born on Long Island.

As the various students come to my mind I pray that HE will use them for HIS glory.  I am so fortunate to be a part of their lives. 

Zambia • Joan Hust Missions

Find Chingola where I lived with my family for nine years and I’ll bring you back an ngwee.  It is a landlocked country in Southern Africa.

 I will fly to Lusaka, the capital city.  Dr. Kenneth Kaunda was the president when I was living there.  I have asked a friend of mine, Dr. Nevers Mumba, who was in my Sunday school class when he was ten yrs. old, and now is the multiparty Democracy president to arrange a meeting for me with Dr. Kaunda.

 The official language is English, but the local language is Nyanja and Bemba.

I taught at the Sacred Heart Convent School, Nchanga Trust School and TCCA, Theological College of Central Africa.  We would sing the national anthem, Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free, with great enthusiasm.  I especially loved the chorus that was sung after the third verse:

Praise be to God, Praise be, praise be, praise be,

Bless our great nation, Zambia, Zambia, Zambia

Free men we stand Under the flag of our land.

Zambia, praise to Thee!  All one, strong and free.

I was sitting at my desk at home when Zambia this year won the first Africa Cup of Nations title in soccer.  I wish I could have been there to celebrate with them.  I only lived with my family in Zambia nine years. It definitely changed my life.

I was very involved with the children of Zambia and the children of the expatriates mostly from Europe, Britain, Australia, Sweden, and India. We were there on a two year contract but it turned out that we stayed nine years.  It is difficult for the wives of the men as they go to work all day and the wives have nothing to do.  It takes time to get acquainted, but I was active in the local church teaching, working with the youth, leading safaris, director and producer of a weekly TV program and the list could go on and on.  I loved working with the local children, the children from the many countries, and they went on the safaris, were in the Sunday school and youth group at St. Mark’s, and joined me on the live weekly TV programs.

I have met several Zambians that are here going to college, and working in the local church.  What a blessing and fun to get together with them as we know the same folks back in Zambia.  It is a small world.  This year my son called me and asked me to come home right away.  I reminded him and he knew it that I was in a very important meeting, but he insisted I come home right away so I did.  Lo and behold a Zambian gentleman was sitting at my kitchen table with a smile from ear to ear, and it was Dr. Charles Musonda from Mufulira, Zambia that was in my youth group in Chingola.  He has opened a House of Prayer here in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. 

 

I cherish your prayers, and thank you for helping me to go on my next mission trip to Zambia this summer.  My desire is to make Him known to those who do not know Him, and to encourage the ones that know Him to be a blessing to everyone.

Make Me a Blessing    Ira B. Wilson    1924

Chorus: 

Make me a blessing, Make me a blessing-

Out of my life May Jesus shine;

Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray,

Make me a blessing to someone today.

Testimony from Zambia for Joan Hust

“I am privileged to be among the believers of our Lord Jesus who had the grace to hear the preached word of God by God’s humble servant Dr. Joan Hust at Saint Marks’ United Church of Zambia in the mining town of Chingola on Copperbelt Province. Between 1979 and 1981, as a schoolboy I attended children’s lessons conducted by Joan. She prepared easy methods for the hearers such as Muppets, drama etc. All these lessons were Christ-centered hence touching the heart of the young seekers in the mining town of which I was included. Many of us got born again at a tender age through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by God’s servant Joan Hust.

We had a Television program called CLUBHOUSE of which Joan was the moderator. Because of Joan’s emphasis on Bible reading, some of the boys and girls were able to read the Bible through from cover to cover. Deeply convicted by what we had read, we developed an intense hatred for sin. Every week, we could meet as a community of young believers. I remember some friends like Clement Muwele, the late Henry Simukoko, Vivian Nakawala Simwanza, Gladys Simwanza, Judy Simwanza and Joseph Banda, who have all grown in the fear of the Lord.  This is because of the foundational teaching given to us as we had to surrender to Jesus at a tender age. The light of heaven broke into many of the souls in the young boys and girls in Chingola regardless of their denomination during the ministry of Joan Hust.

Joan with godly wisdom used the Muppet shows to deliver the gospel to the children. I am really humbled to be part of the few people who witnessed the ministry of Joan Hust in Zambia and now serve the Lord as a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the RURAL OUTREACH MINISTRIES. Many of us were born again through the ministry of Joan Hust because the lady preaches the gospel of the risen Christ.”

Testimony by Evangelist Chishala Mwaba

- HEAD OF MISSION (RURAL OUTREACH MINISTRIES)

Club House Zambia TV program for children

Singing with the children was always fun at the TV/Radio studio in Kitwe.  NCCM   Mines would provide the transportation back and forth to the studio.  The dress I am wearing was made for me by Pam Jeffrey’s mother in England.  The children are wearing shirts with Clubhouse printed on them.  They were a gift from Bonnie Longacre in the states. The children really wanted to take them home but I collected them after every TV program so I would have them next week for them to wear.  

 

Two of the ladies that were very faithful to help me weekly with the children on Clubhouse, and it really helped as they knew the Bemba language as well as English.